Originally published 05:37 p.m., December 5, 2005 Updated 06:31 p.m., December 5, 2005

Douglas County sheriffs deputies are investigating the reported beating of a Kansas University professor who gained recent notoriety for his Internet tirades against Christian fundamentalists.

Kansas University religious studies professor Paul Mirecki reported he was beaten by two men about 6:40 a.m. today on a roadside in rural Douglas County. In a series of interviews late this afternoon, Mirecki said the men who beat him were making references to the controversy that has propelled him into the headlines in recent weeks. Mirecki

Mirecki

I didnt know them, but Im sure they knew me, he said.

Mirecki said he was driving to breakfast when he noticed the men tailgating him in a pickup truck.

I just pulled over hoping they would pass, and then they pulled up real close behind, he said. They got out, and I made the mistake of getting out.

He said the men beat him about the upper body with their fists, and he said he thinks they struck him with a metal object. He was treated and released at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Im mostly shaken up, and I got some bruises and sore spots, he said.

Douglas County Sheriffs Officials are classifying the case as an aggravated battery. They wouldnt say exactly where the incident happened, citing the ongoing investigation

The sheriffs department is looking for the suspects, described as two white males between ages 30 and 40, one wearing a red visor and wool gloves, and both wearing jeans. They were last seen in a large pickup truck.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 843-TIPS or the sheriffs office at 841-0007.

Mirecki recently wrote online that he planned to teach intelligent design as mythology in an upcoming course. He wrote it would be a nice slap in the big fat face of fundamentalists.

The remarks caused an uproar, Mirecki apologized, and KU announced last week the class would be canceled.

Remember this? Then they had the big "love in" after she reported her car being attacked.

Reuters  Monday April 26, 2004

LOS ANGELES - A Southern California college professor who received wide media attention when she claimed that racists had vandalized and defaced her car with ethnic slurs was charged on Monday with filing a false police report and insurance fraud.

Kerri Dunn, a professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College, east of Los Angeles, portrayed herself as a victim of racists angered by her message of tolerance at a campus forum when she reported the vandalism on March 9. She then put in a claim with her auto insurer for damages to her car.

Her story drew media attention and prompted hundreds of students to rally in her name, joined by civil rights activists. But police and FBI agents who investigated the incident began suspecting Dunn of a hoax after witnesses came forward to say they had spotted the 39-year-old professor vandalizing her own car.

She was charged with one misdemeanor count of filing a false police report and two felony counts of insurance fraud. She faces three years in prison if convicted at trial. "False accusations that imply hate crimes prey on the legitimate concerns of the public who truly abhor violence based on race, ethnicity or sexual orientation," Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a statement. "And those who make false claims should realize there is a penalty for doing so."

After Dunn's car was found covered in racial slurs, its tires slashed and windshield shattered, college officials offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Claremont President Pamela Gann has said the college would conduct its own investigation before deciding whether to retain Dunn, whose contract expires later this year.

Was it a white pick-up and did they have a "Charlton Heston is My President" bumper sticker?

Nope: "Visualize Whirled Peas" He didn't get the color of the pickup truck, or the license plate, but he did get the fabric of the alleged perpetrator's gloves? He's either wandered to Kansas from the cast of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" or he's full of it.

"And, "treated and released" is a far cry from "hospitalized after beating." This one definitely flunks the smell test."

No kidding...this guy gets jumped by two "bubbas" and they can't do better than a few bumps and bruises...? I wonder how much it cost to get a couple liberal students to slap him around so he's got a story to tell.

There is no real confirmation of injuries in this piece. I am very skeptical. Why would people of the age group and description he gave be that interested in the controversy he prompted?

Well, he insulted them. But I agree it's hard to picture a couple of good old boys taking the trouble to track down his license and physical identity. But who knows? Maybe this information just came their way somehow, and maybe they just happened to come up behind him. I'm inclined to believe that the distinguished professor's account is truthful. If he was treated and released, they were gentle with him. (Of course, this may be taken as cause for skepticism in itself. )

Remember in Crocodile Dundee when he cold cocks that guy in the restaurant? Were we shocked at this felonious assault? No.

I keep remembering that woman activist who faked vandelism to her car on a college campus when I read this story.

This "story" really smells like a "story". On the other hand, a spokesman for the Sheriff said the deputies would be joined by OJ Simpson in looking for the perpetrators who allegedly beat the professor.

I don't know that I wish him well. If he is spewing and spreading anti-religious hatred, I say he deserved it. Yes we have free speach. But all that means is you won't get arrested. That doesn't entitle you to not pay a price for your actions. I certainly wouldn't go into Camden NJ or Philly yelling the 'N' word. I'm free to do so, but I'm pretty sure I'd be a little worse for wear than the guy in the article. I also wouldn't tell a big strapping lad that I did his mother and sister. Well, you get my drift.

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